Colorado
by DefyingSantaFe
Summary: This world is incredibly small. ONESHOT.


_I'm working on my other two WIPs and hopefully I can get them to you soon. I've had some family stuff come up and just couldn't write. I lost it for a bit, but I'm back. It'll be slow, but I promise I haven't forgotten. This is just something that has been floating about in my head.  
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_Disclaimer: I own nothing. There are 2 characters in this that I made up, but I promise (for those of you who care) they aren't around too much._

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><p>"Yea, I'm by the baggage claim. Where are you?" Derek looked around trying to spot a familiar face, "oh, hold on, I see you."<p>

He made his way over to a dark haired, Hispanic man, who greeted him with a smile that could rival his own.

"Roy! It's great to see you, my man!"

"Derek! I'm just glad that you could be pulled away from work long enough to come to my wedding!" Roy grabbed hold of Derek's bag and led him towards the parking lot.

"Hell, I took two weeks off of work to be here for your wedding as well as the celebrations leading up to it. I had better be entertained." Derek joked with his friend. He'd known Roy since college and they saw each other maybe once every two years, but they were still close.

Roy chuckled, "Don't worry, you will be. Man, I just can't wait for you to meet Mac. She's incredible."

Derek could hear the love in his friend's voice; he was elated that he had finally found the one he wanted to be with.

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><p>Roy lived in a smallish town in Colorado, it wasn't tiny to the point of being a ghost town, but it wasn't overly large. Derek could just feel the sense of community as Roy drove them up a mountain road and to his house.<p>

"The good thing about this town is that you can essentially just walk anywhere," Roy explained as they got out of his truck, "there are great hiking trails that lead you just about anywhere. And the views are amazing."

Derek took in the forests around the house, "It seems so calm up here, and this is definitely not a bad place to be…"

Roy smirked, "Am I convincing big city boy to move to this mountain town?"

"Not move…but I wouldn't say no to a summer house. I have got to have access to clubs," Derek winked.

"We have a pretty decent club about half-an-hour's drive out of town. We're just far enough away from the city to have quiet but close enough to it that we can enjoy the spoils. Besides, we're going to said club tonight as a kick-off party to this week's celebrations."

"Well, damn, might convince me yet."

"Let's put your stuff in the guest room and then we'll walk down to my restaurant and see the ladies."

Derek nodded, still looking at the surroundings, "I still find it hard to believe that you own your own restaurant."

"And it has its own bar," Roy grinned.

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><p>"You were not lying when you said that there are trails everywhere," Derek observed as they arrived at Roy's restaurant, "I like that the trees are everywhere but not enclosing you into a bubble. It's solitary in this town, but not lonely."<p>

"Dude, are you profiling the town?"

"No, I'm just making a comment. Do you want me to? Because you might learn things you didn't want to know about your neighbors."

Roy opened the door to the restaurant and let Derek in first, "I'd prefer if you didn't, actually. I know enough seeing as I am marrying the sheriff," he looked around, "Ah, there she is."

Derek followed Roy over to his future wife. She was shorter than Roy, and had to get on her toes to kiss him in greeting.

"Mac, this is Derek."

Mac's eyes lit up in recognition, "It's nice to finally meet you. I've heard so much, though I'm certain Roy has left a few things out seeing as you two went to college together."

"I'm sure he's also made himself look a lot better than he was in those stories," Derek teased.

"I'm pleading the fifth. She can believe what she wants." Roy chimed in.

Derek saw Mac's focus flicker away from this conversation for a split second and return, she addressed Roy, "If you'll excuse me…I need to go smack someone for telling me that they wouldn't be back in town when she is standing right there."

Roy glanced over Derek's shoulder and smiled, "…huh, me too."

Roy and Mac walked past Derek and approached a woman near the restaurant's entrance. Derek hung back not because he was being polite, but because he was shocked. Emily Prentiss was standing in the doorway. Either she hadn't noticed him or she chose not to, but that was definitely her. He hadn't seen her in about two years. And that was after she had faked her death for six months. He hadn't known where she'd gone, nor did he have much of an inkling to find out. He knew that JJ and Garcia kept in touch with her. He knew that Rossi would have lunch with her if she was in town to see her mother. Reid exchanged letters. Hotch, to his knowledge, would only send his regards through the others but it wasn't avoiding, it was just how he was. Derek, however, was still angry.

Emily looked at the accusing faces of Mac and Roy, "Okay, I know I said I would probably be on the road for a couple more weeks but I could not have predicted the outcome of my case."

Mac cocked an eyebrow, "You said that the guy was running and spiraling and being unpredictable so you couldn't track him as well."

Emily knew they both really weren't angry, but she spent all of her lunch yesterday explaining to Mac that she wouldn't be able to get to the wedding and that she was sorry. A bride would definitely be a little grumpy with abrupt changes.

Roy took the reins, "So, I take it he did something wildly unpredictable and you beat him?"

"If I didn't beat him, I would be a flank steak right now."

Mac shuddered, "Cannibals creep me out."

"That's a popular opinion," Emily nodded, "but yea, wildly unpredictable is exactly how to describe last night's events. I ended up playing chicken with the guy, with our cars mind you, and long story short…I won."

Roy's eyes widened, "Damn."

"Damn indeed. Now, I just dropped by to say hello, and that I will in fact be here for the celebrations and for your wedding because…well my boss may have put me on leave. Apparently having an unsub just come at you like that makes her think I need time to process. Or something crazy like that."

"Yea, it's probably good for you to slow down sometimes."

Derek watched her say her goodbyes and leave. This world was incredibly small.

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><p>Emily wasn't dumb. She could feel those familiar eyes on her the second they took notice. She wasn't going to call him out. She had made a promise to herself that the team could take their own time or they could decide to hate her forever. Five out of six wasn't bad, that was actually way more than she expected. Yea, she missed the team and working directly in the BAU, but she liked what she had now. She worked on cases solo, thanks to Strauss having a new found love for her. I guess being named a hero made her much more appealing. Emily didn't necessarily like the hero title, nor did she think it was true, but Strauss adored having a hero on her team. It made her look better, and Emily didn't mind too much. Every now and then she would be trotted out like a show horse, but she also got the allowance to work on her own which, if she didn't have the team she wanted, was her only other option. She didn't want a new team.<p>

As Emily got ready for the club, she decided that she was going to just be polite. She didn't need to talk to him, she could interact with other people, but if Roy introduced them she'd be polite. She won't cause anything. No need to cause unnecessary stress.

She smoothed the fabric of her dress and did a quick check in the mirror, "Alright, Emily. Time's up."

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><p>Derek found himself taking in the atmosphere of the club more often than dancing. He was leaning against the bar glancing around from time to time when Roy came back from the dance floor.<p>

"Hey, is something wrong? Usually you're all over the place."

Derek lied as he searched the crowd again, "Nothing's wrong, just feeling the vibes."

Roy gave him a look that said 'bullshit' but dropped the subject, "So, see anything you like?"

"Maybe a couple, might try a few out."

"Alright, buddy. I will play wingman if you're feeling a little off your game- damn, she cleans up nice." Roy's attention had been grabbed by Emily.

Derek followed his gaze and couldn't deny that she knew how to own a room. Half-a-dozen guys, at least, had their eyes stray from their partners as she passed them. She didn't even seem to notice, or was at least acting like she didn't. Derek took a long pull from his drink and choked it down. Roy had found Mac again and rejoined the crowd on the dance floor.

As the night went on Derek would periodically seek out Emily. She'd be dancing with some guy on the floor. Then she'd be at the bar and some other guy would buy her a drink. She would accept the drink but she would walk away from the man with a wink and a smile. She was clearly out for some stress release but only from the game, not the conquest.

Emily was getting increasingly annoyed. She could tell Derek was watching her all night. And she could feel the anger radiating off of him. What was his problem? Finally she had enough of it and made eye contact with him across the bar. She motioned for him to follow her and didn't look back to see if he was. She made her way to the back hallway and into an empty event room.

Derek took a moment to adjust to the volume difference from the club to this room, the music was still loud but not all you could hear. It was a shockingly private place in this environment.

"What have I done to make you so angry with me?" Emily asked, poison in her voice.

Derek rolled his eyes, "What have you done?"

"Are you kidding? It has been two years. I understand that it pissed you off and I gave you every opportunity to say so. I don't work at the BAU because I knew it wouldn't be easy for you. I left the fucking city so you wouldn't have to be in my presence every day. But you can't expect me to do that every time we're in the same town. This time you are where I live, and I'm trying to be civil and you're glaring at me."

He walked a few paces away, "I didn't ask you to do any of those things."

"You didn't? You practically forced my hand. Every time I was in the same room as you, you'd make a backhanded comment or you'd just be silent. I wasn't going to deal with that and it was clearly uncomfortable for you."

"So you ran away." His voice rose.

"Fucking god, Derek! I didn't run. You drove me away. And now that I have the gall to have moved on with my life and made new friends, you seem to have reverted to some juvenile sense that I can't be happy just because I wronged you."

"Well how should I feel when you left us and are just sitting pretty in your goddamn mountain town?"

"Sitting pretty? Left…" Emily clenched her fists before she continued, seemingly biting every word, "I have been through all of this with everyone. You seem to be the only person who still thinks I abandoned you. I'm sorry you feel that way. I keep in touch with everyone, and they even tell me 'hi' from you. I know you've never actually relayed that statement, but it makes them feel better for doing so."

She wiped her hand over her face, "I was trying to convince myself earlier today that we could be adults. We could be civil for a two week period and then be back to our lives. Clearly I was wrong. Clearly we need to not interact whatsoever, because I can't talk to you. Once upon a time I thought you could be a man and nut up, but now I realize that you're just being a child and lashing out. I deserved some of that anger some time ago, but now it's in the past. And I don't deserve what you're doing to me."

Derek snarled, "So apparently you're just giving up too. This isn't the Emily Prentiss I knew."

Emily stared at him, "I think I'm pretty much the same as I've always been. I've just never had to be this way with you."

"So…what about running away from uncomfortable problems and giving up is like Emily Prentiss? If I remember correctly, you run at your problems. You don't stop even if it means killing yourself in the process."

She opened her mouth to argue but he stopped her, "You didn't come back to the team because you were uncomfortable. You left D.C because you were uncomfortable. You are leaving now because you are uncomfortable. Emily Prentiss would have rejoined the team and proved herself amongst her peers. She would have stayed in D.C because that's the one place she always thought of as home. And she would have let us all work through our things in our own time. JJ knew, she had nothing to work on. Same with Hotch. Reid needed help getting over the betrayal and you let him hate you for a while because he needed it. Eventually he turned around. Rossi and Garcia didn't need time. You never let me get through it."

"I gave you plenty of time," Emily shot back.

Something clicked in Derek's mind. He was fairly certain they were exactly on the same page but there was one sure fire way to find out. In one quick movement he had her trapped between him and the wall, his hands on her waist and his lips on hers in a fierce embrace. Her response was immediate. One of her hands went to the back of his neck, pinning his lips to hers. The other hand tugged on his belt, trying to pull him closer.

She felt a tug from him and instinctively jumped up, wrapping her legs around him. She was held up now only by one of his hands on her thigh and the wall itself. His other hand stroked its way along her side up to her breast and back down again. She braced herself against the corner with one hand while the other went to open his belt.

Their moves were fierce and slow, tender and desperate. Each knew exactly what the other was doing and how to move accordingly in order to shift their clothes around. Before long Derek thrust his length into Emily causing her to throw her head back and release a cry of pleasure. He took this opportunity to lavish her neck with attention, finding a sensitive spot above her collar bone. He stayed focused on that spot as they found their rhythm. She wrapped her arm around his neck and met him thrust for thrust. Their tempo matched the pounding bass from the club's music.

He bit down on that sweet spot, sending jolts of pure joy through her body, triggering her release. He slowed the pace; placing soft kisses on her neck. He didn't have to wait long for Emily to squeeze her internal muscles and ask for more. He found her lips in an urgent kiss as he pounded into her. They moved together, seemingly racing one another to the end. Emily came first, crying out loudly, and Derek followed soon after, groaning into her neck. He held her against the wall, waiting for both of them to catch their breath.

She rested her head on his shoulder as her heart calmed down. She wrapped her arm around his waist, "We should.."

He didn't let her finish her sentence, "I know."

They needed to talk.

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><p><em>This is just meant to be a oneshot. But maybe more will come of it, but I won't start another series until both <strong>Albatross<strong> and **Familiar** are done._


End file.
